Containers



G- MERCIER May 25, 1965 CONTAINERS Filed Jan. 14, 1963 ENTOR. GILLESMZ'JXCIER BY 1M7 United. States Patent 3,185,353 CONTAINERS GillesMercier, Quebec, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Dominion Corset Company,Limited, Quebec, Quebec, Canada Filed Jan. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 251,109Claims priority, appligation Canada, Oct. 26, 1962,

61,082 2 Claims. (Cl. 222-406) This invention relates to containers andparticularly to containers for fluid and is particularly concerned inproviding hand gripping means whereby the container can be held firmlywhile the contents thereof are being poured.

In the dispensing or pouring of fluids such as liquid detergents fromsmooth sided containers it is unavoidable that some of the fluid runsdown the side of the container and, if the fluid is a detergent, itcausesthe sides of the container to become slippery. When such aslippery container is gripped by a wet or even a moist hand, thecontainer is apt to slip in the hand and loss of control of thecontainer during the pouring operation results, causing more of thecontents to be dispensed than is necessary.

The present invention consists essentially in providing a containerhaving a waist portion of reduced dimensions providing spaced apartshoulders between which the thumb and forefinger of the hand can take afirm grip on the container and thereby hold the container from slip pingin the hand. The reduced waist portion of the container is preferablyprovided with a roughened or knurled surface, or has a series of ridges,against which the thumb and forefinger of the hand can take a firm grip.The provision of a reduced waist portion on the container has theadvantage that, when the container is partly empty and the container istipped for pouring, the contents will be more readily poured bysqueezing the container at the waist portion. This is particularly sowhere the mouth of the container is of small diameter and the contentsare intended to be squeezed out of the container.

The object of the invention is to provide a container, the body of whichcan be gripped and positively held against slippage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container having areduced waist portion forming a hand A further object of the inventionis to provide a container having a reduced waist squeeze portion.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical elevation of the container partly in section at itsreduced waist section.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the mouth of the container.

FIG. 3 is a transverse section of the container taken on the line 3-3 ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a transverse section of the container taken on the line 4---4of FIG. -1.

Referring to the drawings, the container 5 is here shown as beingcylindrical in shape. However, it is to be understood that thecylindrical shape is for illustrative purposes only, The container couldjust as well be of square or rectangular section and the sides could beeither parallel, tapered or curved.

The container is shown as having a reduced neck section 6 having anexternal thread 7 to receive the internally threaded closure cap 8. Thebore 9 of the mouth of the neck as illustrated would be suitable forfree pouring of the fluid contents of the container. However, the bore 9could be of small diameter where it is preferred that the contents besqueezed out of the container.

Patented May 25, 1965 ice The body of the container has a portion of itslength reduced in size at 10 to form a finger grip recess around thebody of the container. The distance lengthwise of the container of therecessed finger grip portion 10 and its depth below the main outersurface of the container is such as to allow for the thumb and theforefinger of the hand to grip comfortably the surface 11 of therecessed portion 10 between the opposing shoulders 12.

The surface 11 of the recessed finger grip portion 10 of the containermay be roughened to increase the grip of the fingers on the container.This roughening may take 7 the form of flutes similar to that shown onthe surface of the cap 8 or it may taken the form of ridges 13 as shownin FIG. 1.

The recessed finger grip portion 10 of the container has the effect ofdividing the interior of the container into two sections 14 and 15 withthe surface 11 forming a convenient squeeze surface, and will have theeffect of more efliciently ejecting the contents from the portion 14 ofthe container when the container is tipped over. This is particularlythe case when the container is partially empty as the contents will tendto concentrate between the neck of the container and the adjacentshoulder 12 of the recess.

The hand grip provided by the above described recessing of the surfaceof the container is preferably located nearer the upper end of thecontainer so that the body of the container below the recessed portioncan be conveniently gripped in the palm of the hand with the thumb andforefinger falling naturally into the recess. In this position of thecontainer in the hand, the container is in the most advantageous andbalanced position to be tipped over for dispensing its contents. Anydrips from the mouth of the container will tend to spread and dry on thesurface of the container above the recess portion 10 and, should theyrun down the side of the container as far as the recess, the tendencywill be for them not to run into the recess, thereby keeping the recessdry and clean and adding further to the advantage of the grippingrecess.

What I claim is:

l. A container for fluids comprising a hollow body having a longitudinalaxis, said body portion having a peripheral recessed portion extendinglengthwise for a portion of the length of said body portion, saidrecessed portion ending in opposing planar shoulders located in spacedapart planes at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the said bodyportion, said opposing planar shoulders being separated from each otherby a distance approximately equal to the width of the human thumb andthe diameter of said recessed portion being substantially less than thediameter of the body portion adjacent said recessed portion whereby saidrecessed portion serves to substantially confine and support the thumband forefinger of the human hand when said container is grasped, and theperipheral wall of said recessed portion between the said shouldersbeing provided with a roughened surface and being parallel to thelongitudinal axis of said body portion, and a dispensing portioncontiguous with said hollow body portion, said dispensing portion havingan opening therein for dispensing fluids, the planar shoulder nearestsaid opening making an angle of degrees with the immediately adjacentsection of the body portion, which is between said planar shoulder andsaid opening whereby fluid dripping down from said opening issubstantially isolated from said recessed portion.

2. A container as set forth in claim 1, in which the container is formedof a plastic material and the peripheral wall of said recessed portionis flexible and squeezable.

(References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGNUNITED STATES PATENTS 568,178 6/58 Belgium.

7 27 Dolan et aL 215 1 733,653 7/55 Great Britain.

"""" 5 LOUIS J. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

342 Bush 222215 X RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Examiner,

Evers 2451 PATENTS I I

1. A CONTAINER FOR FLUIDS COMPRISING A HOLLOW BODY HAVING A LOGITUDINALAXIS, SAID BODY PORTION HAVING A PERIPHERAL RECESSED PORTION EXTENDINGLENGTHWISE FOR A PORTION OF THE LENGTH OF SAID BODY PORTION, SAIDRECESSED PORTION ENDING IN OPPOSING PLANAR SHOULDERS LOCATED IN SPACEDAPART PLANES AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE SAID BODYPORTION, SAID OPPOSING PLANAR SHOULDERS BEING SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHERBY A DISTANCE APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE WIDTH OF THE HUMAN THUMB ANDTHE DIAMETER OF SAID RECESSED PORTION BEING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THEDIAMETER OF THE BODY PORTION ADJACENT THE RECESSED PORTION WHEREBY SAIDRECESSED PORTION SERVES TO SUBSTANTIALLY CONFINE AND SUPPORT THE THUMBAND FOREFINGER OF THE HUMAN HAND WHEN SAID CONTAINER IS GRASPED, AND THEPERIPHERAL WALL OF SAID RECESSED PORTION BETWEEN THE SAID SHOULDERSBEING PROVIDED WITH A ROUGHENED SURFACE AND BEING PARALLEL TO THELONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID BODY PORTION, AND A DISPENSING PORTIONCONTIGUOUS WITH SAID HOLLOW BODY PORTION, SAID DISPENSING PORTION HAVINGAN OPENING THEREIN FOR DISPENSING FLUIDS, THE PLANAR SHOULDER NEARESTSAID OPENING MAKING AN ANGLE OF 90 DEGREES WITH THE IMMEDIATELY ADJACENTSECTION OF THE BODY PORTION, WHICH IS BETWEEN SAID PLANAR SHOULDER ANDSAID OPENING WHEREBY FLUID GRIPPING DOWN FROM SAID OPENING ISSUBSTANTIALLY ISOLATED FROM SAID RECESSED PORTION.